The Civil Rights Movement

AFRICAN-AMERICANS LEAD THE WAY

 This Is A White Man’s Government!

Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

NYC Irish Immigrant Democratic Wall St. Banker

August Belmont
 Background to the Movement
Background to the Movement

⚫ During Reconstruction
(post-Civil War) Af-Ams
given voting rights & new
freedoms
⚫ Afterward, white Southern
lawmakers tried to roll
back gains w/ series of
segregation laws known as
Jim Crow laws.
⚪ These separated the races in
ways that had not been
dreamed of before:
⯍ Entrances/exits to
public buildings, public
bathrooms, even
taxicabs were separated
Portrayal of African Americans in Media
 Segregation Becomes Law of Land
⚪ One law in GA stated that
baseball teams of different
races could not play w/in 2
blocks of each other.
⚪ A law in AL made it illegal for a
white & a black to play checkers
or dominoes together.

⚫ 1896: Supreme Court made

segregation legal when it
ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson
that as long as facilities were
separate, but equal- the law
was constitutional.
⚪ The problem: facilities were
rarely equal
 Disenfranchising the Freedmen

⚫ Jim Crow laws were

accompanied by anti-voting
laws:
⚪ Poll taxes
⚪ Literacy tests
⚪ Grandfather clauses

⚫ In 1896, 130,000 Af-Ams

voted in LA. By 1904, it had
dropped to 1,300
 Eugenics: Racist Science

⚫ Segregation & loss of the

vote were accompanied by
literature and "scientific
studies" in which blacks
were stereotyped and
depicted as unfit for any
rights at all.
⚪ Titles of two popular books of the
period make the point clearly: "The
Negro: A Menace to American
Civilization" and "The Negro: A
Beast.”
 The Regressive Progressive
⚫ By 1913, lynching increasing &
race riots were growing.
⚪ Summer, 1919,: Red Summer: 26
race riots across US Chicago,
Washington, DC, Charleston, SC,
Nashville, TN, Omaha, NB, and
many more.
⯍ 100s killed, 1000s wounded, left homeless
⯍ Worst riots occurred in E. St. Louis, IL, Chicago,
IL, Tulsa, OK, & Atlanta, GA

⚫ President Wilson even re-

segregated the fed govt (a so-called
Progressive & Demo)
⚪ After viewing the racist Birth of a Nation,
Wilson declared that it was “history writ
by lightning”
 A. Philip Randolph & His Brotherhood

⚫In 1925, A. Philip

Randolph started an all-
black union for porters
on trains (Brotherhood
of Sleeping-Car Porters),
this labor union was
created for greater
equality in pay & was a
major civil rights
organizations
 A Change in the Wind
⚫ Plessy v. Ferguson on the
books since 1896, & NAACP
looking for ways to bring it
down
⚪ Af-Am schools were usually
older and received less monies
than their white “peers”

⚪ 1952 NAACP atty Thurgood

Marshall brought series of cases
known collectively as Brown v.
Board of Ed. Of Topeka Kansas
to Supreme Ct
 A Color-Blind Society
⚫ Marshall argued
⚪ True equality cannot exist with
forced segregation:
⯍ Brought in social scientists &
psychologists who claimed
⯍ Victims feel inferior,
aggressive, and/or end up
martyrs (people who constantly
suffer)
⯍ Privileged end up feeling guilty,
hardened, and/or confused by
reality & ideals of equality
⚫ Supreme Court ruled
unanimously it was
unconstitutional
 Speed Bumps on the Road to Equality

⚫ Even though Supreme

Court made it law, many
whites resisted it:
⚪ called it “mongrelization”
⚪ some saw it as communist plot
⯍ By end of 1955, 568 local pro-
segregation orgs had been
formed with 208K members
⚪ Most important groups
were KKK & White
Citizens’ Councils- latter
successfully kept some
schools closed for 10 yrs
 Southern Manifesto
⚪ Using loopholes in
Supreme Court ruling,
Fed govt stalled deseg
efforts for fear of losing
white voters.
⚪ 100 congressmen signed
Southern Manifesto in
March, 1956 refusing to
desegregate- consider what
that means
 The Road Begins in Little Rock

⚫ In 57, Orval Faubus gained

national attention when he
refused to integrate Little Rock
schools.
⚪ Oddly, libraries, buses, & U of
Arkansas had integrated w/ no
probs
⚫ Pres. Eisenhower (Ike) called in
1k paratroopers & put 10k
National Guard under fed
authority to restore order before
year ended
⚪ Faubus responded by closing
Little Rock schools for 3 years
 Desegregation Grows

⚫With the success of the

Little Rock Nine (and a new
Democratic president) James
Meredith integrated “Ole
Miss”
⚫Meredith was successful
but there were still death
threats, riots, federal
troops deployed, and 2
people killed
 Moving from Schools to Streets
⚫ 12/55: Seamstress (&
NAACP secretary) Rosa
Parks refused to give up her
seat for a white man when
asked by the bus driver.
⚫ She was arrested & spent 2.5
hrs on a Friday evening in
jail while civil rights leaders
hurriedly scrambled to make
her bail.
⚫ Thus began a campaign
which would last over a year
 Organizing a Boycott

⚫The Montgomery
Improvement
Association (MIA) was
created to organize a bus
boycott the following
Monday.
⚫A young Baptist preacher
new to town, Rev. Martin
Luther King, Jr was
tasked with heading
movement
 Bring a City to Its Knees

⚫ Boycott started on Mon

12/5 (& white police made it even
more successful than expected)
⚪ Police followed buses- scared off
those who planned on riding!
⚫ MIA plan was a success
⚪ People carpooled
⚪ Black taxi drivers charged
bus fare prices (until they were
ticketed)
⚪ And people walked
⯍ Some ended up walking 17+
m/day
 Bankruptcy or Equality

⚫After 381 days, city was

ordered to desegregate
by the federal govt
⚫Supreme Court upheld
decision
⚫Boycott worked
⚫By that time, city bus
system was close to
bankruptcy
⚪ But they STILL weren’t
willing to give in!
 The Role of the Church
⚫ Since slavery, Af-Am
churches were social &
political hub for black Ams
⚪ Af-Ams identified w/ many
aspects of Christianity
⯍ Hope for better world
⯍ Jesus’ emphasis on equality
⯍ God’s grief over hypocrisy
⚫ During CR Movement,
churches = centers for protest
mtgs- 1000s attended
⚪ Many black pastors became c.r.
leaders
⯍ Abernathy, Shuttlesworth, King,
Young, Lowery, et al.
 The Rise of Rev. MLK
⚫ Son of Baptist clergy, MLK
graduated from Morehouse
& Boston University
⚪ Became a pastor at Dexter
Ave Baptist at 25
⯍ Was eloquent & charismatic
speaker
⚪ His success in organizing
bus boycott led to leadership
in burgeoning movement
⚫ Co-founded Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC)
 SCLC & Soulforce
⚫ MLK’s philosophy
combined 2 ideologies
⚪ Jesus’ teachings to respond to
injustice & hatred with love
⚪ Nonviolent resistance of Hindu
revolutionary Mahatma Gandhi
⚫ King called it “Soulforce” &
it can be summed up in
these:
⚪ “Let no man pull you low
enough to hate him.”
⚪ "Love is the only force capable
of transforming an enemy to a
friend."
⚫ MLK on loving one’s enemies:
Many would go so far as to say that it just
isn’t possible to move out into the actual
practice of this glorious command. They
would go on to say that this is just
additional proof that Jesus was an
impractical idealist who never quite came
down to earth. So the arguments abound.
But far from being an impractical idealist,
Jesus has become the practical realist.
The words of this text glitter in our eyes
with a new urgency. Far from being the
pious injunction of a utopian dreamer,
this command is an absolute necessity for
the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is
love that will save our world and our
civilization, love even for enemies.
 Students Take A Stand
⚫ Besides MLK, young people
pushed fight for civil rights
⚪ Discouraged by slow pace
⚫ Sit-in movement started
⚪ Took idea from CORE (who
used it during WWII)
⚪ Feb, ‘60: 4 black univ. students
sat at “whites only” lunch
counter in Greensboro, NC
⚪ Next day, 20 students, next 60
& on the 4th: 300
⚪ Refused to leave until they
were served
⚪ Taunted, beaten, & arrested
 The Birth of SNCC
⚫ April, ‘60 leaders of sit-in
movement formed new
group: Student Non-violent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
⚪ “Demonstrate justice permeated
by love”- take nonviolent
resistance to new level
⯍ Trained to resist racial slurs,
having food dumped on them,
even being attacked
⯍ In Nashville, 80 SNCC arrested
after they were attacked by white
crowds; burned w/lit cigarettes
⚫ Eventually, stores/cities
caved & desegregated
 Freedom Riders
⚫ 47’: Truman desegregates
interstate bus lines
⚫ As late as 1960, Southern
states ignored this
⚪ Bus terminals, ticket counters,
waiting rooms & drinking
fountains, still segregated
⚫ ‘61 CORE tests new laws
passes in ‘50s.
⚪ Organized by James Farmer ⚫ Riders wrote out wills, letters
(CORE) & Dianne Nash (SNCC) to family before they left
groups of freedom riders of ⚪ Death threats, beatings, & jail
both races travel from
commenced
Washington, DC to New
Orleans, LA ⚫ By AL, welcomes turned worse
 Violence escalates

⚫ In AL, police & KKK planned

their attack
⚪ Bus originally attacked in Anniston
⯍ Tired slashed, then firebombed when
it pulled to a stop outside of town
⯍ Mob held door shut until undercover
FBI agent fired weapon into air
� Riders poured off burning bus into
hands of KKK mob
• Beaten until hospitalization
⚪ Then final attack in Birmingham
⯍ New bus drops them off : KKK &
police attacked- singling out whites
� Bats, pipes, chains
� White hospital refused to treat one
of the white riders- sent him to
“black” hospital
 A Road Open to All

⚫ Unswayed, riders persevered.

⚫ JFK’s admin finally
intervened
⚪ Sent fed marshals to protect them
⚪ And to enforce a law that should
have been enforced 14 years ago

⚫ Rides continued throughout

the early 60s
 The Campaign Turns to Birmingham

⚫ In ‘63, MLK & Fred

Shuttlesworth (another SCLC
pastor) planned massive
demonstrations in B-ham
⚪ Known as “Bombingham”; it’s
racist “Commissioner of Public
Safety Eugene “Bull” Connor
was particularly brutal
⚪ SCLC hoped to provoke attack
response from Connor
⯍ Started w/ sit-ins & later march
� 150 CR workers arrested
� MLK arrested; called for
more marchers
 Kids Take A Stand

⚫ As protestors filled streets,

new group emerged: kids
⚪ 1st day: 50 teens marching turned
into 600 (including elementary kids)
⚫ The kids filled the jail cells
(which was the strategy)
⚪ 2nd day: Bull Connor ordered
firehoses & monitor guns (H2O
guns) on the kids- all on TV
⚫ Ultimately city officials caved
⚪ Integrated public restrooms,
lunch counters,
⚪ Bi-racial committee est’d
 Tragedy Strikes Again

⚫ Sep, ‘63: Violence continued

to plague B-ham
⚪ Months after deseg, KKK
planted bomb in church
basement
⯍ Exploded after Sunday School
had ended:
⯍ Killing 4 little girls
⯍ Wounding dozens of others
⚫ Bombing sparked violent
protests throughout city
⚪ White Eagle scout shot & killed black
man
⚪ Another black man shot in back by
white policeman
 Uniting for a Cause
⚫ SCLC, SNCC, NAACP, CORE
pushed JFK for more support
⚫ JFK reluctant; worried about
losing white voters
⯍ Sent federal marshals on freedom
rides after attack
⯍ Called Coretta S. King; offered
moral support after MLK arrest
⯍ Called racism a moral evil after
Birmingham violence
⚫ RFK pushed him for more
⚫ JFK sent Civil Rights Bill of’63 to John Lewis (SNCC), Whitney Young (NUL), A.P.
Congress in June Randolph (BSCP), MLK (SCLC), James Farmer
(CORE), Roy Wilkens (NAACP)
⚫ March was scheduled for August
 Sending A Message To Congress

⚫Tension b/t groups during

March (argued over leadership)
⚫ However, still a huge success
⚪ 250+K attended
⯍ 75-80% Af-Am
⚫Speeches by c.r. leaders
⚪ Most memorable by MLK
⚫Songs by famous singers
⚪ Mahalia Jackson, Marian
Anderson
⚪ Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter,
Paul & Mary
 Through the Shadow of Death

⚫Only 3 months after March,

JFK killed in Dallas
⚫Civil Rights activists grief-
stricken; felt JFK had done
more for them than others
⚫LBJ carried on JFK’s
dream- secured passage of
CR Bill through Congress
signed Civil Rights Act of
‘64 into law
 Voter Registration Drives

⚫Although CR Act passed, Af-

Ams still faced obstacles
⚪ In many Southern cities,
black citizens not allowed to
register to vote
⚪ Even if they are allowed to
register, still faced poll taxes
& literacy tests
⚫ To increase success of voter
drives, SNCC organized
Freedom Summer
⚪ 1K volunteers to register new
voters
 Mississippi Summer Project
⚫ Freedom Summer, as SNCC
event was called, was
dangerous
⚪ 4 civil rights workers killed &
3 Af-Am killed (for sure)
⚪ 80 FS workers beaten
⚪ 1,062 arrested
⚪ 37 churches bombed
⚫ But also successful
⚪ Volunteers went door-to-door
answering questions, holding
classes, & registering voters
⚪ Resulted in 63,000 new voters
 The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
⚫ One leader of FS was Fannie
⚫ "Do you mean to tell me that your
Lou Hamer, SNCC worker (&
ardent Christian, she sang hymns as she was)
arrested, jailed & beaten for
her work.
⚫ Her efforts led to creation of
the MS Freedom Democratic
Party (MFDP)
⚪ Challenged the all-white
Democratic Party of MS
⚪ Created to give Af-Am voters a
voice in state govt
⚪ Serious problem for LBJ’s re-
election, afraid he’d lose
Southern white voters
position is more important than four
hundred thousand black people's lives?
Senator Humphrey, I know lots of
people in Mississippi who have lost
their jobs trying to register to vote. I
had to leave the plantation where I
worked in Sunflower County,
Mississippi. Now if you lose this job of
Vice-President because you do what is
right, because you help the MFDP,
everything will be all right. God will
take care of you. But if you take [the
nomination] this way, why, you will
never be able to do any good for civil
rights, for poor people, for peace, or
any of those things you talk about.
Senator Humphrey, I'm going to pray
to Jesus for you."
 Marching from Selma to Montgomery

⚫By ‘65, focus on Selma, AL

⚪ Hardest place to register to vote
(15k eligible 300 actual)
⚫ March 7, ‘65, march to draw
attn on racism & violence
⚪ Jimmie Lee Jackson shot &
killed protecting mother &
grandfather
⚫ Sheriff Jim Clark called state
troopers to beat, gas, & arrest
marchers
⚪ Failed event called “Bloody
Sunday”
 “Turnaround Tuesday”
⚫ Followed by “Turnaround
Tuesday”
⚪ Injunction by fed. judge
⚪ 3 white ministers beaten to
death (refused treatment by white
hospital)
⚫ Finally 3rd attempt was
successful
⚪ 8K turned to 25K people by
final stage to the state capitol
⚪ MLK delivered “How Long,
Not Long” speech
 Effects of the Selma March
⚪ KKK murdered young woman
that night who was driving Af-
Ams back to Selma from
Montgomery (white married mother of
5)

⚫Selma March did help

LBJ secure passage of
the Voting Rights Act of
’65
⚪ Outlawed literacy tests &
other discriminatory
voting practices
 Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam

⚫ ‘50s & early 60s: most c.r.

leaders advocated non-
violent protest & co-op w/
whites in seeking c.r. laws
⚫ By mid-60s many
frustrated w/ lack of
progress & self-interest of
politicos, c.r. leaders, etc.
⚫ Some found alternative
leadership in the Nation of
Islam and its spokesman
Malcolm X
 Goals of an Afro-centric Faith

⚫Nation of Islam (NoI) led by

Hon. Elijah Muhammad
⚪ Son of GA sharecropper,
migrated to Detroit in 20s
⚪ Mentored by W.D. Fard (EM later
said he was Allah on Earth)
⚫ Combined Islamic &
Christian teachings +
original doctrine (remind me)
⚫ Preached black nationalism/
separation
⚪ Black businesses & schools vital ⚫ Self-defense in face of white
⚪ Eventual exodus 4 new nation racist violence
 New Prophet of the Movement Emerges
⚫ 48: Malcolm Little converted
to NoI while in prison.
⚫ Taken in by EM upon release
⚪ Changed name to Malcolm X
⚫ Made chief spokesman of NoI
⚪ Criticized c.r. leaders as pawn
of white men
⚪ Reiterated NoI belief that
nonviolence = weakness
⚫ Brought b/t 100-200K new
supporters
⚫ Whites terrified; FBI
investigated (spied on) him
 New Faith & New Outlook
⚫ Censured by NoI after JFK’s
assassination
⚪ “chickens coming home to roost”
⚪ Ordered silent for 90 days
⚫ Left NoI soon after– EM
affairs?
⚫ Stated intent to make hajj
⚪ Religious transformation-
converted to Sunni Islam
⚪ Came back announcing new
orgs: Muslim Mosque, Inc &
Org for Afro-Am Unity
⚪ Willingness to work with
other c.r. leaders
 Death of Prophet

⚫@ a speech for his new

OAAU 2 men started
arguing
⚫As guards moved to quiet
them, 2 others stepped up &
opened fire w/ shotguns
⚫Malcolm died in wife’s arms
⚪ 10s of thousands lined streets
to honor him on day of
funeral
⚫Men arrested, charged, &
convicted all NoI
 Urban Race Riots

⚫By mid-60s, many felt sit-

ins/marches pointless- esp.
economically
⚫ 64-67: violent protests (58
cities) occurred b/t Af-Ams &
police as frustrations grew
⚪ 1st large scale riot in Watts,
ghetto neighborhood in L.A.
⚪ Followed by riots in Detroit,
San Fran, Harlem, Cleveland
⯍ w/i 2 yrs: 143 killed, 4500
injured @ hands of police & NG
⯍ Worst in Detroit: 43 dead, city
burned for 7
 The Federal Govt Responds

⚫’67: LBJ created committee

to investigate causes of riots
⚪ Kerner Commission released
its findings 7 months later
⚪ Riots were due to black
frustration at white racism &
lack of econ opportunity
⯍ No evidence that black radicals
(comms) were responsible
⯍ Recommended financial aid
programs for urban blacks- no
solution for white racism
⚫ LBJ promised relief, but
many lost confidence in him
⚫When MLK was
assassinated later that
year, while in
Memphis supporting
public employees
striking for better
pay, violence erupted
in 125 cities across the
US
 A Shift to Radicalism
⚫ Late 60s: Growing frustration
led many urban blacks to more
radical approaches
⚪ Old: Integration, nonviolent
resistance
⚪ New: separation, justice, econ
power, & Af-Am rep in govt,
police, politics
⚫ July, 66: Stokely Carmichael
(SNCC leader) turned from his
org’s non-violent policy
⚪ “We been saying freedom for years &
we ain’t got nothin’. What we gonna
start sayin’ now is BLACK POWER!
 Reactions to Black Power

⚫Carmichael’s words became

slogan for the new focus
⚪ Many whites were terrified
⯍ What does it mean? Look
like?
⚪ Older c.r. leaders frustrated
⯍ Will goodwill & gains be
lost?
⚪ Youth were galvanized
⯍ After winning gold & bronze
@ ‘68 Olympics, US runners
Tommie Smith & John Carlos
rendered the Black Power
salute
 From Black Power to Black Panthers

⚫ Most prominent of new

militant groups were Black
Panthers
⚪ Founded by Huey Newton &
Bobby Seale in Oakland, CA
⚪ Goals included:
⯍ “Policing the police”- armed self-
defense to prevent police harassment
⯍ Ending draft for Af-Am males
⯍ Full employment
⯍ Decent housing
⯍ Reformed ed system
⯍ Started community programs
aimed at improving education,
food co-ops, etc.
 COINTELPRO & Civil Rights

⚫ US Govt found civil rights

threatening- even non-violent
SCLC
⚫ FBI’s COINTELPRO
secretly investigated & tried
to discredit them
⚪ Published cartoons & articles 2
turn public opinion against c.r.
⚪ Spied on MLK, Malcolm X,
other leaders (Bayard Rustin)
⯍ Attempted blackmail to silence
them
⚪ Played groups/leaders against
each other
 Legacy of the Movement
⚫ Although incidents of
white/black violence cont’d
(prisons, public arenas, & college
campuses), greatly declined in
70s
⚫ CR activists focused on
integration of Af-Ams &
reforming education
⚪ By ‘74, ¾ of all black students
in South were in integrated
schools
⯍ Black achievement rose
⯍ Colleges offered black studies
programs
⚫ Prison, poverty, & fractured
families continue to plague
Af-Am community
⚪ Wide discrepancy exists b/t
whites & blacks when it comes
to death row inmates & prison
sentences
⚫ Similarly, econ segregation
replaced legal segregation- as
middle class whites continue
to leave cities for suburbs-
where house prices & taxes keep many
inner cities families from moving